Summary: The berserker updates for 2016 introduced a fury system and specializations.

Fury system

The fury system is a 0-100 gauge. Successful autoattacks will increase the gauge by 4 points and berserker-specific skills (but not the generic skills that are also possessed by warriors and thieves) will decrease the gauge by an amount multiple of 10. Any secondary affects you may remember occuring by using skills while "raged" are now accessible by building 50 fury and then spending that skill. To use this more effectively I recommend add %N to your prompt. This will be there by default for new berserkers.

Addendum: There are a couple of side-ways to generate fury which are useful in a pinch. Berserk gives a big lump and another way is to dash into multiple targets. Be careful when you use what with 50 fury as there aren't many other ways to build it quickly. That is, other than...

Rage

Rage now has a 1 round lag (upped from a 1/2 round lag) and rage also increases the fury regeneration by awarding points per combat round. Rage will also now add damage based on strength instead of on constitution. Keep in mind the main reason for the 1 round lag on rage is so that it is not in any way easy to quickly use a stun warcry (which is also 50 fury). I took special care to make sure that this is not easy to pull off anymore. As well I will mention in good faith that the massive hp regen of being in a fighting position on a tick exists no longer.

Mania

Mania is now a health-draining skill instead of a movement-draining skill. This is a trickle drain over time that may seem small, but its insidious because mania lasts for quite a while and sleeping to be rid of it is a pain too. Be aware of the risks, also good to be aware if you are a dwarf this is going to be less a concern as it is a flat amount and not a percentage amount. Also good to be aware that mania is a good way to increase your fury generation.

Specializations

Several specializations exist for berserkers accessible at the 35th rank onward through a new skill called "dragon ancestry". You are free to completely ignore specialization if you want, you absolutely are not required to use any specializations, and you may after reviewing them decide they aren't for you. Although if you do want to make a berserker to target these specs, keep in mind that there is a requirement to follow the right deity so
there will be alignment restrictions.

Addendum: I also removed the background requirement of pledging as it would really make it a nuisance (I'm sure there's also other reasons why this is a nuisance already)

Chaos: The chaos specialization requires following Zafrin. increases the damage bonus of being raged. it is substantial. This is big league damage and no mistake. This also replaces the skill "swing" with the skill "devastate" which hits ALL targets in front of the berserker (not just bystanders) and serves to reduce the armor of the target in a stackable manner. All this power does not come without a significant drawback however, as Zafrin's berserkers are a tribe that has learned to fight by battling monsters, and ashew all magical equipment because they hate the sight of it. (TBD: helpfiles with a drisnek backstory about the magic shit)

Fury: The fury specialization requires following Sarich. This replaces the
"mania" skill entirely with a "Restraint" skill instead. Good news for if you hate the hp drain on mania! "Restraint" allows berserker to better control his rage, which means you can attempt to perform some actions that are normally unable to be done while raged. I cannot recall if flee was in the list but I know for sure that rest and sleep are on there. An added benefit of this spec is that your autorage will now only hit evil. I will advise you here that mania is a substantial hit to your fury generation if not damage overall.

Blood: The blood specializiation requires following Davairus. This adds
the "ignore pain" skill which is a spellbane-like shield against afflictive spells. This spec also removes the hp drain from mania. As well you may earn stacking ability "blood bath" by killing creatures, as long as you get to sacrifice the corpse. This will occur up to 60 times and there is a small damroll bonus that is increased every 15 kills. The tradeoff with
this spec is that you lose the skill "relax".

Underlying this class update is a new philosophy that a class shouldn't be just a simple experience of rage/bodyslam. It shouldn't feel that you NEED that rage to be a viable fighter either, and you can see the secondary affects of skills now depend on having your fury gauge >= 50.

This is a *start*. I have had Lorne review the class at some length to ensure the fury feels in a good place and it feels fun. We're agreed at least in the staff that this is a good start. Now we are looking to you to let us know what you like and any other input.

n.b. It is possible to add more themed specializations, as long as they are themed after animalistic imms I do not really mind, you can see I mined out dragons._________________AR is on TwitterFacebook

Rothak, use something that gives you detect magic and if you see magical on it, its probably magical. There are some rare things that aren't magical I think... but meh, it seems like the chaos dragon would be for keepers, but keepers gotta follow whats his face._________________Hit Points: Anything more than none means I'm ready for action, baby

Players have been asking question about how this all works in-game, as well as helpfiles. I added a helpfile so they at least know how to pick, but helpfiles exaplaining how this works should be added relatively soon.

Code:

help dragon ancestry
DRAGON ANCESTRY
Syntax: ancestry <deity>

Berserker worshipers of some deities can harness ancestral draconic powers.

Current options are: Davairus, Sarich, Zafrin

_________________No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.

The commentary about shadows is fine, if thats how he really feels its best vent it instead of keeping it bottled up inside. I am sure if I were in his position I would feel exactly the same way._________________AR is on TwitterFacebook

For the Fury and Blood berserkers, how would that work being good/evil chaotic when they are good/evil lawful? From what I remember you can only go one up/down. I.E. evil chaotic can also follow evil neutral or neutral chaotic. Thanks in advance.

Did not think Berserkers could even be Lawful._________________You plunge a guild-issue claw deep into Lexian's heart with a swift, sudden movement!
You +++ ASSASSINATE +++ Lexian!
Lexian is DEAD!!
Lexian splatters blood on your armor.

They are, but the immortal you follow must be within one step of your ethos/align. Since there are two lawful gods mentioned for spec and lawful is two steps away from chaotic, even if you share an alignment, you are too far off to initiate.